Did you ever meet Studs? Maybe you or a relative were interviewed on his show, or you ran into him on one of his many jaunts through the city with his recording equipment. If you have a Studs story (or picture) to share, we'd love to hear from you! Please get in touch with Allison Schein, the Archive Manager, at aschein@wfmt.com. Thanks!

Studs Terkel & Buckminster Fuller chat about The Geodesic Life

In October we launched our inaugural partnership from the creators of Blank on Blank with an interview of the late, great Maya Angelou. Today we introduce the second in this innovative series with Stud’s conversations with Buckminster “Bucky” Fuller. They are using two interviews from 1965 and 1970 to launch their special miniseries on “The Experimenters” which celebrates the unique voices in STEM. Using witty animation to illustrate Stud’s intimate style of interviewing people, Blank on Blank adds new dimension and character to a traditional art-form.

His first daughter became ill at a young age and died just before she was four. While mourning her loss he wondered why so much time and money was put into making a battleship or an airplane and not on ways to improve our lives. Five years later while walking in the park with his new daughter, Bucky looked up at an airplane and decided to incorporate the building techniques used in the air and on the sea to improve the way we live on land. Watch how he took tragedy and turned it into an inspirational way to live.

The Blank on Blank Animated Interview team is Executive Producer David Gerlach, Director Patrick Smith, Series Producer Amy Drozdowska and Animator Jennifer Yoo. Support for the series comes from PRX, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and Squarespace.